Hair clipper



Jan. 11, 1938. L. c. NICHQLL 2,105,223

HAIR CLIPPER Filed Feb. 5, 1937 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1- INVENTOR.

- ATTORNEYS u. c. NICHOLL 2,105,223

HAIR CLIPPER Fil ed Feb. 5, 19s? Jan. 11, 1938.

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II. I'

WC INVENTQIIQ.

. Paten d). 11,1938

UNITED f STATES HAIR. CLIPPER Lyle o. Nichol], Los Angeles, Calif.,assignor to I Nichol], Inc., Los Angeles, Call, a corporation ofCalifornia Application February 5, 1937, Serial No. 124,210

2 Claims. (or. 30-43) This invention relates to hair clippers andparticularly to cutting heads therefor.

A broad object of the invention is toprovide a simple and practicablecutting head for a hair clipper which iscapable of cutting eitherlong orshort hair smoothly and rapidly and cutting it veryclose to the skinwithout danger of'inJury to the skin so that it can be used for shavingin place of a razor.

A particular specific'object of the invention is to provide a dualpurpose cutting head having two skin-contacting faces one of which isdimensioned to cut hair more closely to the skin than the other.

the drawings some specific embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a side view of a complete clipper incorporating the invention,the actuating mechanism being shown in section and the exterior of thecase being indicated in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a central section takenlongitudinally through the clipper head disclosed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is'a detailed cross section through the head of the clipper shownin Fig. 1, taken at.

right angles to the sectional view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 isa greatly enlargeddetail side view of the clipper head shown inFigs. 1 to 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the head taken in thesame plane as Fig. 2 but greatly enlarged;

Fig. 6- is an end view of 'a modified cutting head with thereciprocating cutter partially withdrawn to show its shape;

Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the head disclosed inFig. 6, the inner cutter being shown partly withdrawn from the outercutter; a

Fig. 8 is'"an edge view of 'thehead disclosed in Fig. 6; v

Fig. 9 is a greatly enlarged cross section'taken .-i,throughlthe tipportion of the head shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8; and r Fig. 10 is adetailedenlarg'ed cross section showing an alternativefconst'ruction'tothat shown in Fig; 9; and.

Fig. 11 is a detail enlarged endyiw of aportion' of a clipper headdiffering from that shownin Fig.6. l Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2,the" simplest support on one end a clipper head indicated generally at2', and adapted to contain therewithin an electric driving mechanism foractuating the head.. Various forms of driving mechanism may be employedbut the particular'one disclosed comprises an electro-magnetic deviceconsisting of a core 3 of magnetic material having an energizing winding4 mounted on a pole piece 5 of the core 3 with a cooperating armature 6which is normally positionedin spaced relation with respect to faces'l,8, and 901' the core 3, the armatlure serving to'complete a magneticcircuit between the faces I and 8, and 8 and 9, respectively. The corepiece 3is rigidly attached to a spring steel supporting strip H] whichin turn is secured to the case I at one endasbyascrew-ll. l

The other end oi. the spring member ID extends around the pole 3 and'issecured to the armature 6 asby screws I2, the member ID serving toresiliently support the armature 6 in spaced relation with respect tothe core 3. To increase the spring tension urging the armature 6 awayfrom the core piece, an auxiliary spring l3 may be provided. Thearmature 6 has attached thereto at its forward end a pin M which extendsout beyond the limits of the case I and engages with the movable portionof the head 2. When and a reciprocable element I I. The stationaryelement I6 preferably consists of a substantially rectangular baseportion adapted to fit into a socket provided therefor in the end of thecase I and may be secured in position by a thumb nut l8. Thiselement isprovided with a central slot 'l9 inthe base to receive pin I 4 andpermit the latter to vibrate. The interior of the element I6 is smoothlymachined to provide apair of juxtaposed parallel walls 20 which slidablyreceive and support the vibrating element IT. The outer end of elementI6 is beveled to provide a pair of substantially fiat faces 2 I whichintersecteach other at an angle. The interior of the element I6 is 'alsomachined away to form relatively thin walls below the faces 2| andparallel thereto." The tip of the element also has slots 22 thereinextending transversely thereacross and'uniformly spaced to subdivide thetip portion. of the wall into a plurality of bars or teeth 23 which areanchored at theiropposite ends to the main portion of the element l6,thereby rigidly supporting them. form of my clipper comprises a case Iadapted to The vibrating'element. ll -constitutes a cutter barcooperating with the teeth 23 and is similar in general shape to theelement l6, having slots therein defining teeth 24 which reciprocateback the chamber in element IS in which it is positioned, the elementl'l sliding on the spring 25 when it is reciprocated.

The element i1 is provided with a slot 26 in its lower surface toreceive a ball 21 on the extreme outer end of the driving pin l4. Theteeth 24 on the vibrating member are slightly wider than the slotsbetween teeth 23 on the stationary member to maintain the cuttingsurface of the teeth in the same planes at all times. The outer teeth 23are preferably tapered or rounded on their outer surfaces, as shown inFig. 5, to permit the skin to be forced close to the cutting edges ofthe teeth and thereby cut hair closely.

By virtue of the fact that the two faces 2| are inclined at an angle toeach other as in the manner described and the teeth 23 are also rigidlysupported at their opposite ends, they may be made relatively thin andstill be self-supporting. It is advantageous to make the outerstationary teeth 2| thin in order to permit close clipping. As a matterof fact, these teeth can be made thin enough to clip hair so close thatthe device may be used as a substitute for a razor.

The V construction of the cutting head has a further distinct advantageover devices in which the cutting teeth lie in a single flat plane, inthat it will readily cut hair of almost any length. Thus in use thedevice is so positioned that one or the other of the surfaces 2| liessubstantially fiat against the skin. Therefore, when the device isadvanced over the skin long hairs can penetrate freely into the slots 22and be cut. Obviously, very long hairs will be cut twice; once closeagainst the skin by the face lying against the skin and again by theother face at a distance therefrom. This, however, is no disadvantage.That portion of the cut hair which lies within the movable element H, ofcourse, accumulates there but may be readily removed by blowing throughthe device since it is open at both ends.

The modified head construction shown in Figs. 6, '7, 8, and 9 comprisesa stationary outer member 30 of the same general shape as the stationary member IS in Figs. 2 and 3 and an inner re ciprocable member 3| ofthe same general shape as the inner member IT in Figs. 2 and 3. Theouter member 30 is adapted to be supported in the case shown in Figs. 1and 3 and in fact the whole head construction shown in Figs. 6 to 9 canbe substituted for that shown in Figs. 1 to 5.

The essential differences between the head construction shown in Figs.-6 to 9 and that shown in Figs. 1 to 5 is that the outer member 30 hascutting bars which are thinner on one face than on the otherand theinner member 3| is so shaped as to bear against the outer cutting barsof the member only along restricted areas on opposite sides of the apex,has its slots and bars disposed at an angle relative to the slots andbars of the outer member and has wider slots and bars than the outermember so that all of the bars on the inner member do not simultaneouslymove into shearing position with respect to the outer bars. The outermember 30 also differs from the outer member IS in that the end bars arethicker than the intermediate bars to increase the strength of themember and reduce the possibility of damage thereto from being droppedor struck. Thus referring to Fig. 7, it will be observed that the endbars 32 of theouter stationary shearing member 30 are much thicker thanthe intermediate bars 33 and project beyond the outer surfaces of bars33. With this construction if the head should be dropped onto a hardfloor or other object the heavy end bars 32, since they project outbeyond the intermediate bars 33, are most likely to receive the force ofthe impact and prevent contact of the floor or other object with thebars 33. By reason of their greater thickness the bars 32 are able towithstand substantial blows without deformation. When the device is inoperation and is pressed against the skin, the skin yields sufficientlyto permit contact of the outer surfaces of the intermediate bars 33 withthe skin so that the greater thickness of the bars 32 does not interferewith the operation of the device.

As shown in Fig. 7, the stationary member 30 has 28 intermediate teeth33 whereas the reciprocable member 3| has 24 teeth or-bars 34, the bars34 being accordingly wider (in the direction of motion) and more widelyspaced than the bars 33. As a result of this construction, differentbars 34 successively move into shearing engagement with the bars 33 asthe member 3| is reciprocated, thereby distributing the load over asubstantial part of each cutting stroke of the inner member instead ofhaving the total shearing load occur at the same instant during eachstroke. This assures much smoother operation because when shaving toughcoarse hair the force required is relatively great to move the innermember when all the slots are filled with hair and the shearing edges ofall the bars cut the hair simultaneously. In fact, the load may suddenlyin-' crease to such a value as to stall the device unless a relativelypowerful motor is employed. However, by employing different numbers ofand differently spaced teeth on the inner and outer members asdescribed, only a small number of the bars are in shearingengagement atany instant so that the maximum load on the motor is greatly reduced andthe possibility of the device stalling is correspondingly reduced.

By extending the outer bars 33 straight across the head perpendicular tothe direction of movement of the inner cutter and extending the innerbars 34 at an oblique angle to the direction of motion, the load isfurther distributed over each stroke by virtue of the fact that only asmall portion of each shearing edge on each bar 34 contacts with thecooperating outer bar at any instant, the point of shearing contact oneach bar moving from one side of the head across to the other. Theangling of the teeth or bars 34 also promotes more free sliding motionbetween the inner and outer bars.

As shown in Fig. '1, the spring construction for pressing the innermember 3| outwardly against the outer end of the stationary member 30 isslightly different from that disclosed in Fig. 2. In the constructionshown in Fig. 7, two curved leaf springs 35 are employed, each anchoredat one and adjacent the central aperture 33 in the base of the member 33and extending outwardly therefrom. The aperture 36 corresponds to theaperture IS in the embodiment shown in Fig.

2 and the inner member 3| is provided with a hole 31, corresponding tothe hole I6 in Fig. 2, for receiving the end of the driving arm.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, it will. be observed that the cuttingbars 33 on the stationary member are relatively thick and substantiallyuniform in thickness from end to end on one face (the right face in Fig.9) and are thinner and tapered in thickness from the base toward theapex on the other side (the left side in Fig. 9). In general, thecloseness with which hair can be cut in a device of the type describeddepends upon the thickness of the outer bars. The thinner these bars aremade, the closer the hair can be out. However, if the bars are made toothin, there is a possibility of irritating the skin and it is easier toirritate some skins than others. Thus some individuals can employ aclipper having much thinner outer blades without discomfort than canothers. By making the blades or bars on the two skin-contacting faces ofthe outer member of different thicknesses as shown in Fig. 9, I providea dual purpose instrument capable of shaving with two different degreesof fineness.

For extremely close shaving I also find it desirable in the constructiondescribed to taper the thickness of the outer bars from the base endstoward the apex as shown on the left side of Fig. 9. This providesextreme thinness at the leading ends of the bars where most of the hairshearing takes place while providing stiffer bars than if they were madeuniformly thin from end to end.

It will be observed from Fig. 9 that the bars 34 of the inner cutter areground off or truncated at the apex so that they donot contact the outerbars 33 at the extreme end, a space 39 being left between the outerfaces 40 of the truncated bars 34 and the angle defined by the apicalends of the bars 33. The bars 34 are also preferably beveled off attheir outer edges as indicated at 4| so that shearing contact betweenthe plates 33 and 34 is limited to the areas 42 and 43 on the respectiveskin-contacting faces, the width of each area (measured longitudinallyalong the bars) being substantially less than the total width of eachskin-contacting face.

The construction described with reference to Fig. 9 has severaladvantages. It is found that in the hands of the average user there isless likelihood of the device irritating the skin if the inner and outerbars are not in shearing engagement at the apex, it being easier toforce the skin through the slots between the outer bars at the apex thanat a distance from the apex.

I also find that there is no real need of extending the shearingsurfaces over a substantial distance along the. outer bars 33 for thereason that practically all hairs entering the slots are cut off beforethey move any appreciable distance along the slots. In other words,practically all cutting takes place within a very short distance of theupper edges of the shearing surfaces 42 and 43.

There is a positive advantage in reducing the area of the shearingsurfaces. In the first place, less spring pressure is required tomaintain the inner and outer bars in shearing engagement which reducesthe amount of power required to reciprocate the inner member. In thesecond place, it is easier to maintain perfect shearing contact over thenarrow shearing areas 42 and 43 of Fig. 9 than over-the wide shearingareas in the construction shown in Fig. 3, in which the inner bars arein shearing engagement with the outer bars over the entire length of theinner bars. In practice the inner member 3| is fitted quite-snuglybetween the parallel walls 45 of the outer member so that relativelylittle lateral motion of the base of the inner member with respect tothe outer member can take place. However, any slight lateral motion ofthe base tends to unseat portions of the shearing surfaces of the innermember from the shearing surfaces of the outer member and this effect isgreater where the shearing areas 42 and 43 are relatively wide than whenthey are relatively narrow. Thus it willbe apparent that if the widthsof the shaving areas 42 and 43 were reduced to a line, then shearingengagement would always be maintained on each side of the headregardless of lateral movement of the base portion 41 of the innermember 3|. ,It is not desirable, however, to restrict the shearing areasto lines and I have found that in a commercial device it is notnecessary to so restrict them in order to maintain substantially perfectshearing contact.

It is not essential that the outer bars 33 be extended straight towardthe apex past the shearing surfaces 42 and 43 as shown in Fig. 9. Thusthe apical ends of the bars-33 may be rounded off as indicated at 33' inFig. 10 and the bars may be thickened at the apex as shown in Fig. 10,thereby decreasing the size of the free space 39', without in any wayinterfering with the shearing action of the bars. The thickening of thebars at the apex as indicated in Fig. 10 is desirable in that itincreases the strength and rigidity of the bars.

The closeness of shaving can be varied by varying the width of the slotsbetween the outer bars, as well as by varying the thickness of theouter'bars. Wider slots allow the skin to come closer to the innercutter and. permit closer shaving than narrow slots, even though thethickness of the outer bars be unchanged. Fig. 11 shows a; dual purposeclipper construction in accordance with the invention in which the outerbars 33" are narrower on one skin-contacting face than on the other,thereby providing one face with wide slots between the outer bars forclose shaving and another face with narrower slots for coarser shaving.It is to be understood that if desired the bars may differ both inthickness (as shown in Fig. 9) and in width (as shown in Fig. 11) on thetwo sides of the head.

The closeness of shaving can also be varied to a certain extent byvarying the extent to which the apex of the inner member is out ch.

to be limited only as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A hair clipper head comprising a stationary shearing memberin the shape of a V trough,

, the exterior of which defines two skin-contacting faces angularlypositioned relative to each other and intersecting substantially at theapex of the V, said member having slots extending across said apex and asubstantial distance therebeyond on either side whereby the end of saidmember is divided into V-shaped cutting bars, and a cooperatingreciprocating shearing member having teeth seating against the innersurfaces of said V-shaped cutting bars of the stationary member, saidteeth having two juxta posed shearing surfaces contacting said V barsover two shearing areas on the opposite sides of the V, each shearingarea having its inner edge spaced from the apex of the V and its outeredge spaced a substantial distance from the outer end of the adjacentside of the V.

2. A hairclipper head comprising a stationary shearing member in theshape of a V trough, the exterior of which defines two skin-contactingfaces angularly positioned relative to each other and intersectingsubstantialy at the apex of the V, said member having slots extendingacross said apex and a substantial distance therebeyond on either sidewhereby the end of said member is divided into V-shaped cutting bars,

and a cooperating reciprocating shearing member having teeth seatingagainst the inner surfaces of said V-shaped cutting bars of thestationary member, said reciprocating member having opposite angularlydisposed plane side surfaces in shearing contact with the inner surfacesof said V trough stationary member over juxtaposed areas spaced from andon opposite sides of the apex of the V, the outer end surface of saidreciprocating member intermediate said plane surfaces being spaced fromthe inner surface of the stationary member and the lateral I surfaces ofsaid reciprocating member rearwardly of said plane surfaces being alsospaced from the juxtaposed inner surfaces of the stationary member.

LYLE C. NICHOLL.

